August 08, 2006

Key Lime Curd

Directions:
Over low heat, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk continuously for about 8-10 minutes or until it forms a custard. Allow to cool then pour into a jar and refrigerate. The curd will thicken considerably as it cools.

*Persian lime juice will work just as well but the resulting curd will be a tad sweeter.

My thoughts:

Every time I see key limes in the store I can't resist buying them. It's a sickness, really. This time it was a bag of about 50 for $1.60 and I couldn't turn down that kind of a deal-normally a much smaller bag runs about $4-5. Anyway, I didn't want to make another pie so we had been using the key limes in place of usual limes (even in our chicken salad) until I thought of making key lime curd. I'd never made any sort of curd before but I had seen a pricey jar of lemon curd in the store and thought it looked like something I could make. It was much easier and faster than expected, it was almost magical how it went from being liquid to custard in just a few minutes. I made this recipe a little lighter than most lime curd recipes which frequently call for 3 or 4 whole eggs plus additional yolks. I think it's better for it, any more eggs and I think the eggy flavor would have over-powered the delicate tartness of the key limes. I can't wait to make some thing with it, it already tastes delicious.

Let's see, you can eat it on pancakes, on biscuits, between cookies (thanks Natalia!), use it between cake layers on on tart shells to make a easy tart. I've seen it in bar cookies, in cupcakes and mousse.

I just came across your website while looking for key lime curd recipe. I have a question though.Do you use real butter or can you use margarine? Just wanted to make sure because some people call margarine butter. Thanks,the recipe sounds great and I can't wait to try it.

You know, I was skeptical because I had tried to make lemon curd once and it turne dout horribly! But this was easy and wonderful! It came out just tart enough to satisfy my tastes. I used it with key lime cookies and they were absolutely wonderful!

Hi, Could you tell me how much this recipe makes? I have a delicious ambrosia cheesecake that I top with orange curd , but have been wanting to try the lime. Also, will regular limes work ok? I'm in New England and key limes are tough to find.